Emergency alarms are well known for summoning the help of the police, or the like, and are often used in banks and other establishments. Such devices normally are stationary installations that require manual operation of a switch or the like. Although the manual controls of such switches are generally placed in convenient reach of an employee, the same cannot be operated if the employee is prevented from touching anything in the vicinity. Moreover, since such devices are generally stationary, the ability of an employee to activate them when not in the immediate vicinity is severely restricted.
Portable alarm activating devices that are worn on the body and activated by body movement are known in the art, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,135,476 and 3,440,635. These devices are fastened to the body, beneath outer clothing for concealment, and are activated by body movement, such as an expansion of the chest cavity of the body by a large intake of air, or by movement of a limb of the body, such as the arm. The disadvantages of such devices are that movement of a person's limb in the manner desired may be prevented in a given situation, air intake movement and limb movement may be detected by a viewer, and such movement can easily be done unintentionally, setting off the alarm unnecessarily.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for activating any alarm that can be set off by the closing of an electrical circuit. It is another object of the invention to provide an alarm activating device that is worn on the body and is turned on by a body movement that is normally undetectable to a viewer. It is an object to provide an alarm activating device that is controlled by a body's voluntary muscle movement that is seldom, if ever, performed unintentionally. It is an object to provide such a device that is worn close to the body, generally concealed by outer clothing.